/f/V 



V 

1/ 

le Use of the Gasoline Torch 
in Fighting Insects and Fungi 

Copyright, 1914, by Frkd Reinlkin, Susanville, California 
Circular No. 140 (No. 139 continued) April 18, 1914 

Entomology Bulletin No. 64, part 1, gives an account of 
tests ma('fc at Barstow in western Texas in 1905 of the destrac- 
tiveness of a pentatomid bug, known as the Mexican 
conchuela. The account mentions that an associated species, 
the grain bug, possessing a capacity for injury of the same 
character, has destroyed as far back as 1895, 40 acres of peas 
and 2 acres of lima beans on a certain farm in the territory 
now infested by the conchuela and has since earned a bad repu- 
tation by its destructiveness to wheat and oats in Colorado 
and elsewhere. The account also sets forth on page 8 how ano- 
ther pentatomid bug, the green tree bug, destroyed in Florida 
35 acres of cowpeas, and also a crop of tomatoes. "In general 
the Mexican conchuela may be said to be almost omnivorous, 
showing preference, however, for fruits and seeds." (p. 8). 

The crops affected in 1905 at Barstow, a short distance south 
of the southeastern corner of New IMexico, were cotton, alfalfa, 
grapes, peaches, Milo maize and garden vegetables. 

"... .Fields devoted to alfalfa are capable of harboring the 
conchuela in enormous numbers" (p. 3) "....the principal 
danger. . . .lies in the fact that a choice breeding place is fur- 
nished the insects which may multiply to enormous numbers 
and spread to other ciojo. . . .In infi'stcd alfalfa fields, w!:en 
the se<"J is p>resent, the t'n<_:s may be seen c'inging to the seed 
clusters, extracting the lich juices by means of their tliread- 
like setae. The seed pod when once fed upon shrivalis .... Cut- 
ting of tltC -ilfalfa checks the multiplication of the pest, but 
also has the effect of driving the bugs elsewhere in search of 
food .... "(p.4). On Milo maize "the conchuelas had been very 
abundant by August 4, as many as 25 of the insects frequently 
being noted on a single head. . . . "(p. 5) . . . ."The tendency of 
the conchuelas to congregate on certain individual peaches was 

f 



very marked as has likewise been observed in their occurrence 
upon the cottonbolls" (p. 6). ''Garden crops were affected to 
a considerable extent by this destructive pest.... The crops 
which suffered most were peas, beans and tomatoes" (p. 7). 

The writer, Dr. A. W. Morrill, on page 12 and 13 suggests, 
as a means of making the raising of a crop of alfalfa seed possi- 
ble when these bugs shall have spread over wide areas, the con- 
struction of a hopperdozer, fitted with revolving fans and oper- 
ated from behind. 

Now a hopperdozer that will serve this purpose, it may be 
easy enough to construct and to operate. But, in the first place, 
the pest can multiply on most any other crop where the hopper- 
dozer cannot be used and from where they can go to attack 
grapes, cotton and other late crops. Then, again, alfalfa and 
the clovers have a number of serious other enemies, one or more 
of which may be also present and the aim would have to be to 
devise a means that w^ould be effective against both. Thus the 
alfalfa, or clover or timothj^ on which the conchuela or kindred 
species may feed and multiply may be infested also with the 
clovermite and the hopperdozer would be of no use against 
it. This mite lives upooi the surface of leaves of trees and 
plants. There is no feasible means of control of this pest as a 
field insect except the use of heat as generated by a torch. This 
is so because there is nothing that will produce as much kill- 
ing power against sucking insects as gasoline, or some other 
substance that may be lound to produce the same effect at 
less cost, turned into heiit, and applied under pressure. 

Bugs are as a rule nmre or less gregarious and a single 
burner torch would in most cases answer to keep the bugs in 
alfalfa down and also check the mite to that extent. When 
the alfalfa is cut, the bags mil migrate to anything within 
reach that suits them. This class of bugs flies readily during 
the warm part of the day and will attack as readily tall trees 
as low growing crops. Jn order to enable the man who has a 
mixture of crops to defend against these and other bugs, or 
lice, or scale insects, or fungi, there should be at his disposal 
an apparatus that will sive the widest possible use. If there is 
anything better than the torch designed by me, I do not know 
it. This torch is shown on last page. *" 

©CI,A373306 



N 



-51*914 ^^r 



3 

ITcwever, special requirements will call for special types of 
construction. This alfalfi, or clover, might be attacked also by 
the alfalfa looper or alfalfa catapillar, and it would then seem 
best to construct a torch on similar lines as a four-row potato- 
sprayer; that is, a high wheeled cartskeleton is to support a 
seat for a driver and furnish room for a 10, 20, 
or 50 gallon tank, and with it as many leads of burner can be 
made to be kept gcing from it as may be desired. And these 
burners can be arranged as high or as low, and as close or 
as far apart, blowing forwards, backwards or sidewards, ai' 
or part of them , as may be desired. There is no gearing to eith- 
er of the two wheels and in order to give the apparatus th? 
widest range of usefulness the axle might be constructed of 
pipe and the wdieels could, by using set screws, be spread as 
far apart or as close together as ma.y be desired, so that the ap- 
paratus could be used between rows of corn against the cinch- 
bug, or against the conchuela on IMilo maize or cotton, or any 
kind of insect on any kind of low growing crop, such as the 
melon or cabbage louse, not otherwise readily and economically 
affected by contact poisons, or where these sprays are entirely 
prohibitive in cost, as for instance against the spring grain 
aphis. IMore about construction will be said later- 

In Entomology Circular No. 137 you find an account of the 
alfalfa weevil, but you find not even a suggestion as to a reme- 
dy. ''From what is known of the insect in Europe and in the 
light of its behavior since its discovery in this country there 
seems little hope for anything from it but dispersion and des- 
truction (p. 7) The I'tah Agricultural Experiment Station 

during the season of 1910 carried out a great number of field 
experiments w4th different methods of controlling the weevil, 
but none of these has so far given entirely satisfactory 
results. ..." (p. 8). And the account does not give even any 
50, 10 or half per cent satisfactory results. And there is ad- 
mittedly danger of rapid spread. Then again, this weevil may 
be able to breed on any kind of clover. 

As the conchuela 's ally, the grain bug, is already infesting 
the fields of "Colorado and elsewhere", and the alfalfa weevil 
is apt to show up there in quantity at any time, we have to de- 



vise means to combat the two if possible at tlie same time. Be- 
sides there may be other pests to be considered. 

The alfalfa weevil em_erges as adult in Utah by the end of 
Xo- 137.) These eggs are deposited in the top part of the 
]\rarch and the female lays eggs till early in July (Ent. Cir. 
plant and the young hatching from them make their way to 
the leaves, shown by an illustration to be mostly at the tops. 
Now, the hopperdozer suggested by Dr. ]\Iorrill against the 
conchuela could be expected to w/ork to get the grain bug; and 
it may work to get the Aveevils, and it may not ; anyway, it is 
much less likely to get the young larvae. These apparently 
feed on the sunny part of the plant unless the weather be very 
hot and the bulk of them would be fully exposed to a blast 
from a multiple torch that might blow down on them. Since 
hatching begins by the middle of April, the aim would have to 
be to begin to apply the blast then and keep it up at such in- 
tervals and as long as examination shows it to be necessary. 
This would certainly get the young larvae and may, by injuring 
or killing outright the adults, make the larvae crop mighty 
small, and thus solve the problem. 

Since setting above to type the report of the U. S. Entomolo- 
gist for 1913 has come to hand. On page 7 reference is made to 
the Bureau's plan of controlling the alfalfa weevil. '' . . . . A* 
present it is necessary to cut this (first) crop prematurely .... 
After taking off the premature first crop, brush draggin;'.-: . . . . 
reduces the number of the weevil. . . .The same follows for the 
third crop." 

Why the first crop must be cut prematurely is not stated!, 
but the known aim is to cut the crop at a time when the larva<: 
are most plentiful. This, in experimental work, ] as a very 
strong tendency, especially if follow^ed with brush dragging, to 
drive the adults to other fields not cut so early. 

Compare this with Entomology Circular No. 137, p. 3: "If 
the field is mown over" (meaning the usual time) most of the 
larvae w411 of course be shaken off . . . .While some of these per- 
ish those that survive and /live upon the fresh growth together 
with those hatching from eggs deposited after the mowdng de- 
velop sufficient numbers to overwhelm and destroy the second 
crop . . . . " 



\ 



Premature cutting of the first crop, then, simply jeavc-h; riuit 
many more eggs to be deposited into the second cro])- Anci., m 
the case of the alfalfa weevil at least, the crops do not mature 
fast enough to prevent a large part of the weevils to develop 
from eggs laid in the spring or after the first nittmo- into 
adults, and many more mil in either case reach at least the 
pupae stage, probably then hidden away in the soil at the foot 
of the plant. Brush dragging, rough as it is on the plants, Avill 
kill a certain percentage of larvae, but is cannoc materiariy 
rtffect the adults and pupae. 

Then, again, the plan proposed by the Bureau precludes the 
growing of seed. At the rate the Bureau advocates early cat- 
ting to control clover insects pests where is the seed to come 
from! Over a large territory the conchuela and grai'ibug at 
tack this crop and seed growing is not advisable there, unless 
backed by the use of some practicable means of attach Then 
the alfalfa caterpillar is threatening the crop and early cutting 
is advised for it also. Then there is the alfalfa looper, described 
in Entomology Bulletin No. 95, part VII., feeding on many 
plants besides clovers. The adult, a moth, is readily attracted 
to light and could probably be held in check by a traptorch. 
Then there is, chiefly in the Eastern States, the clover root 
curculio and the lesser clover leaf weevil, described in Ento- 
mology Bulletin No. 85, parts I. and III., the former feeding 
readily also upon grasses. Any of these may at any time be- 
come serious. Their habits are more or less similar- A multiple 
torch must be considered to be the all around most feasible 
means of control. This use of a multiple burner would be of 
special benefit in case of miany larvae surviving a cutting. It 
could be then applied sharply immediately after removing a 
crop, while the larvae are clustering about the stumps. 

Speaking of the alfalfa caterpillar in Entomology Circular 
No. 133 the writer says on page 7 that "at Indio, California, 
on July 1st, he found larvae feeding upon sweet clover which 
strangely enough they seemed to prefer to a patch of ilfnlfa 
growing close by. Eggs were also observed to be vavy auiucrous 
upon the leaves of the sweet clover at the same time '' it 
might be possible, therefore, to concentrate this or other clover 
insects upon patches of sweet clover or some other i»ret:'erreJ 



food plant, and by making war on the insects here the 'ields at 
large might be protected. 

On page 10 of his report for 1913 the Entomologist states that 
the spinach aphis cannot be controlled by any sprayer as yet 
tested when it occurs on spinach. — Well, and when it occurs on 
plants other than spinach, is it then also the spinach aphis, or 
does the spinach merely act as a first class trapcrop for most 
any old kind of aphis to steer over the critical winter period 
under its protection"? Of course, infestation begins any time 
after the crop is up in the fall, and continues by influx and 
breeding upon the plants till frost stops activity. Every ex- 
perienced gardener well knows that this feeding causes the 
leaves to assume the shape of in inverted spoon, and that this 
holds good in substance with all other plants, and that then no 
spray applied with any kind of sprayer or torch can do its best 
Avork. He knows that control would have to begin in the fall, 
and that the crop is too low priced to stand the expense of a 
series of applications of the usual contact insecticides, and be- 
sides, the foliage, in its normal state, is mostly so flattened 
against the ground that no spray can readily enter. On the 
other hand a blast from the torch either of the hand type or 
multiple type could, because of its low^ expense, profitably be 
made to blow in between the leaves and the ground, beginning 
when the plants are yet small, and before there is any tendency 
of the leaves to curl up. This, of course, prevents the aphis 
from getting established. AYhat little injury might be to the 
plants will be readily outgrowm during winter and spring. 
There is an end to infestation after the hibernation period is 
once reached, and the treatment has to be all finished by that 
time. As the crop is to be marketed as early as possible, no 
treatment is wanted to be given in the spring. 

In thus keeping the aphis dow^n on spinach or other suitable 
crops, this in turn protects the other vegetation in the spring 
from the infestatiori that would otherwise come from the 
spinach — and other fields. 

Similarily you heard a good deal to the effect that the cotton 
red spider spreads from violets in the planter's yard to the 
cotton. To destroy the violets is no good, because, there are wild 
plants the spider can hibernate on even better, one being the 



wild geranium, another the glechonia. The most feasible plan 
then is to use the violets as trapplants, and clear the spiders 
out by repeated ^^n^^ht lickings with the torch. 

This principle o' utilizing and treating trapplants is appli- 
cable in many similar cases. 

In reference to the Argentine ant the Entomologist says in 
his report for 1913 on page 6: "The work on this destructive 
species consisted largely of an experiment in the extermination 
of the pcist in a town in Mississippi in which it had recently 
])ecome established. The best results were obtained with the use 
of a very diluted sweetened solution of sodium arsenite-" 

With no practicable means offered for the control, of this ant 
in its stronghold in the uncultivated country and on cultivated 
crops, any extermination in any town cannot be more than tem- 
porary. My measures of control at large are described in my 
Circular No. 138 and also on pages 1, 2 and 15 to 17 of my Cir- 
cular No. 139- 

Now, as to injury to the crop by the blast, just put your 
mind at ease. On page 7 of Entomology Bulletin No. 64 Dr. 
^Torrill cites a case of conchuelas migrating on July 17, 1905 
in Mexico from an adjacent alfalfa field to a ten acre vineyard 
heavily loaded with cruit. "Each cluster of grapes Avas at- 
tacked ])y several bugs, tlie maximum noted on a single cluster 
being 25". The owner, without consulting Dr. Morrill, had 
the grapes picked, expecting this loss of food would check the 
insects to the benefit of the cotton fields. "This step was, 
however, inadvisable, since the fruit, which was of compara- 
tively small value ^ would have served as a trap at which the 
bugs could have been ea.'ily destroyed w^hen so thickly concen- 
trated.'' He does not say how easily and by what means. As 
he was Avilling to sacrifice the grapes, it does not look as though 
he knows of an easy way to fight the conchuela on cotton. 

The account does not give any advice as to control on cotton, 
but promises such advise in a future publication- "As it was, 
the bugs gathered in groups of hundreds on the trellis posis 
and on the vines, principally at the forks, where they were 
destroyed, partly b:^ spraying and partly by use of a gasoline 
blast torch. The last mentioned method, while effective in its 



8 

destruction of the pest, injured the vines to a certain extent i.i 
nearly all eases." 

Now, if the spray did not injure the vines, why did thej' usf 
a torch at all? AVell, it seems the ow^ner got sick of tl e ex- 
pense of using the spray. There is no more need to mjur<': 
the plants than there is a need to cut yourself, even Avithout 
using a looking glass, when using a razor. If you have enough 
gumption you can use a razor without cutting yourself, and if 
3'ou have not, you have to use a safety hoe. A razor works 
quickest, and costs the least in the first place and next to noth- 
ing in upkeep, but it involves danger of injury. In using a 
torch there is a general tendency to give more heat at any one 
time than should he given- The bugs in question would have 
died probably as well, although sloAver, had they gotten less 
heat. I once applied the torch for about 2 seconds to a matur(^ 
squash bug, without apparently injuring it, then caged it, and 
in a day or two it Avas dead. IMoreover the adult bugs, which 
are much more difficult to kill than the immature ones, would 
in many cases fall to the ground and could be there given 
enough heat to cause their death within a day or two. This 
falling oflP would be the more likely to take place, if the heai 
be api^lied early in the morning while they are sluggish, and, 
moreover, the vines then have dew upon them and are then 
much less likely to be injured than during the heat of the day. 
Thus in the case of the alfalfa weevil the use of heat sufficient 
to cause the death of the adults need not injure the crop at all. 
But if it did, it Avould merely affect the tips, and the plant 
Avould readily out grow it. At any rate, the larvae require 
very much less heat. And any larA^ae that were not destroyed 
will become adults any time after June 15. These adults thee 
feed upon the fresh groAvth, but also eat the bark from 
the stems, thus being by the time the grainbug would be in 
business in quantity agi(in exposed to attack by a blast, and 
this up till hibernation lime. 

Besides, it is quite likely that the ad'ults are attracted to 
light and thus, being during most of the grooving season in the 
adult stage, this weevil could be controlled by the m;e of the 
torch used as a traplight, as described in my Circular No. 139, 
p. 11 and elsewhere. 



This capacity of the torch as a trap becomes of importance in 
the case of an insect, like the clover root borer, the adult of 
which is but little in evidence and the immature stages of 
which work below the ground- Since alfalfa and clover es- 
cape from cultivation, that is, provide volunteer plants to 
breed in, and as this beetle is known even now to be able to 
breed in some leguminous plants other than clovers, the chances 
that "the only preventive measure yet tried that gives any pro- 
mise of success is summerf allowing as soon as the (clover) crop 
is removed" (Ent. Cir. No. 119, p. 5) will be of real practical 
value are very slim chiefly because alfalfa is wanted to stay 
for a number of years and would thus act as a ])reeding 
ground. This beetle, it is quite likely, can be trapped with a 
torch and that is therefore at present the most promising means 
of control. 

Of course birds might keep it in check. But birds, like the 
rest of us, want a home. The burning of all shelter near fields 
as a means of protection against insect pests is so often advo- 
cated by the Bureau of Entomology, it looks like they do more 
to keep the birds down than all the bird butchers put together. 
It is of course true that such shelter provides hibernation 
places for injurious insects, but it is also manifestly equally true 
that it does so for their parasites, hence must be considered as 
neutral ground, at least as a rule. 

There is a numbei* of insects infesting the stalks and roots of 
several important ci'ops, such as the cotton stalk borer, the corn 
stalk curculio and the sugarcane borer. There is usually noth- 
ing in the way of a satisfactory means of control known. Most 
of these insects have a well defined flying season, and in com- 
mon with many otner injurious adults fly at night, and using 
the torch as a light trap will be found on the whole to be the 
most satisfactory Tneans of control. 

Entomology Circular No. 152 treats on the rice water weevil 
and methods for its control- The chief means of control, as 
there given, "consists in the practice of draining and allowing 
infested rice fields to dry sufficiently at the proper time or be- 
fore the attacks of larvae have greatly weakened the 
plants...." (p. 19). 

This plan is not favorable to an extension of rice growing, or 



lO 

of growing rice at the lowest cost, because it wiuld be often 
difficMt to re-flood the fields. 

In addition, as a means of control, ''considerable numbers of 
weevils can be captured at lights and destroyed" (p. 20). 

This latter point is made more clear on page 18. As early as 
on page 6, how^ever, reference to this is made by stating, that 
while the adults "show no inclination to fly during the day 
and even refuse to expand the wing^s on being tossed into the 

air that they can fly for long distances is clearly proven 

by their attraction to artificial light at night." 

In tests made to exploit, if possible, this inclination to fly to 
light ''a portable acetylene outfit was used to furnish light, be- 
ing operated near ricefields 1 mile from town (Crowley, La.)" 

"Some of the best results were as follows, the weevils being 
taken on a cloth screen that was provided for the purpose of 
inducing them to alight : On the night of i\Iay 26, 1910, Mr. 
Van Dine started the light at 8 o'clock and captured over 40 
weevils in the first 15 minutes. Later the breeze increased and 
only strong flying insects came to the light." 

"Starting the light at 8 o'clock on July 19, after a day of 
heavy rains, Mr. Hood collected 24 weevils in 45 minutes. But 
on the night of July 29, which was clear and warm with slight 
south breeze, he placed the light in the middle of the rice field 
and caught 125 weevils between 8 and 9 o'clock." 

You find reference made to the use of the gasoline torch as 
a traptorch at night, substantially as described by me as long 
ago as 1903, on pp. 8 to 15 and pp. 22 to 24 of my Circular No- 
139. You read there on pp. 11 and 12 that while this torch 
does not make a bright light the very first catch I made con- 
sisted of 1500 insects — that being the number estimated by the 
official Entomologist at Washington, to whom it was sent. 
Hence the poor catches of weevils at Crowley were not due to 
any lack of light. The trouble, rather, was, there was a super- 
abundance of it, w^hereas, as explained on page 12 in the case 
of the torch, all is dark around it, causing the insects to bump 
their heads against the red hot burner and become disabled 
and drop into the pail beloAv. This with the improvements sug- 
gested on pp. 13 and 24 would result in a greatly increased 
catch, probably resulting in making it possible to catch tobac- 



1 1 

CO hornworm moths in large quantities when they are plentiful. 

As near as can be seen, the Bureau's outfit at Crowley re- 
quired the attendance of one person. This makes it quite ex- 
pensive, and the few weevils caught probably represented a 
trifling part of the total numlier present. With the torchtrap 
designed by me you put enough gasoline in the tank to enable 
it to burn the time desired, you hang it up on a tree branch or 
a light tripod made out of 1x2 stuff, and that is all the work 
there is to it. 

This kind of torch might now be in use for years and the 
rice weevil kept under perfect control at trifling cost had the 
Bureau seen fit to duly investigate the evidence I presented 
to them 11 years ago. For my part it was about the same to me 
whether or not the gods are fightiner against stupidity in vain; 
T realized I would be the biggest fool of all to try to force my 
way through then, and decided the thing to do was to wait till 
the people would get sick of the kind of investigations the 
Bureau was dishing up, and do not yet see why I should change 
my mind. 

There is now also the alfalfa midge established in southern 
Arizona and New Mexico. Being, in my judgment, a sawfly, 
there is nothing in the way of direct control in sight except 
that it might be trapped in quantity by the use of the torch 
or else attacked in its larval stage with a multiple torch. 

Of course, anything that kills an injurious insect will, gener- 
ally speaking, also kill the beneficial ones present, and the torch 
is no exception. You have to know what you are trapping, or 
leave the trap alone. This is work for the Bureau of Ento- 
mology to investigate and the work was there for 10 years 
past. 

This use of a multiple torch I had advocated as far back as 
1903 against such insects as the Hessian fly when in the larval 
stage. Many of this class of flies get exceedingly numerous 
sometimes. In 1903 T was called upon to clear by the use of a 
torch two 10 and 12 foot plum trees covered with larvae. Speci- 
mens sent to Chief Ploward were reported as being larvae of a 
sawfly. 

" the larger part of the fall brood of Hessian flv 

appears and is gone within a week " (Ent. Circ. No. 70, 



12 

]). lJ:)/'The eggs are generally placed in the grooves of the up- 
per surface of the leaves The young larva as soon as it 

is hatched makes its way down the leaf and behind the 
sheath." (p. 3.) 

This hatching, in the case of the fall brood, occurs usually 
during cool weather, uually while the nights are quite long, 
and the total effective temperature for each day is not great, 
hence development will be slow and if a multiple torch be 
made to play at intervals of 2 or 3 days during the critical 
period upon the plants, there is no good reason why the bulk 
of them should not be destroyed at small cost. 

Ground beetles are considered to be normally carnivorous 
and, like most sawflies, beneficial, but when abundant will, as 
described in Entomology Bulletin Xo. 82, part II in the case of 
the slender seed oorn ground beetle, attack corn and do great 
damage. There is every reason to believe that these insects nor- 
mally live on all kinds of animal food they can get, and when 
short attack any vegetation from young weeds up to oats and 
corn, attracting aierely special attention in the case of corn by 
being compelled t;) live upon one kind of plant that affords 
with the usual incident prompt destruction of young weeds a 
very meager supply of food at sprouting time over good sized 
areas. These beetles are readily attracted to light and consti- 
tuted nearly all or the first catch I ever made with a torch, as 
described on page 11 of my Circular Xo. 139. The traptorch is 
probably the best thing to control the maize bill bug- It also, is 
ui?ed early in the season in fields that were the year before in 
eowpeas. probably the only satisfactory means to control the 
cowpea eurculio. 

Speaking of the conchuela and its partner, the grain bug. when 
a crop of alfalfa, wheat, oats or some other crop they have been 
attacking is cut, or is maturing, the adult bugs, being strong 
fliers, readily fly to other crops, and are in a position to select 
the one best suited to their fastidious taste. At Barstow in 1905 
'' shortly after the 10th of July (Ent. Bull. Xo. 64, p. 6), coinci- 
dent with the cutting of alfalfa, the bugs were noticed on the 
fruit of these (peach) trees." ("Fruit of the earliest varieties 
in their first fruiting season"), "which was just beginning to 
ripen. The trees soon became very heavily infested, and on 



13 

July 20 it Avas not iincoinmon to see from 10 fo 15 on a single 
peach and in one instance 20 were counted. The tendency of 
the conchuela to congregate on certain individual peaches was 
very marked, as has likewise been observed in their occurrence 
upon cotton lolls.... but all on the attacked trees were ulti- 
niatelj^ destroyed. The injured fruit became shrunken in spots 
ai:d spongelike to the touch, finally falling to the ground. ..." 
For control on peaches Dr. Morril recommends fumigation. 
"Peach trees when pruned in accordance with the practice of 
the leading growers are low enough to permit handpicking of 
all the fruit" (evidently presupposing the use of short steplad- 
ders) ''and are correspondingly easy of fumigation-" He 
recommends the use of a cheap tent, and as fumigants he rec- 
ommends tobacco stem,s, pyrethrum, or bubach. This is sup- 
posed to soon stupify the insects and cause them to fall to the 
ground "wherp they can be easily and quickly killed. . . .This 
method of fumigation is inexpensive and has the further ad- 
vantage of requiring but a few minutes' work for each tree" 

(P- 14). 

I deny that this method of control is inexpensive. Also 
peach foliage is very likely to be affected by the fumes. Then, 
again, these peaches mil act as a constant means of concentra- 
ting bugs and there would be no end to fumigating while ripen- 
ing fruit is on. 

The only practical way, for commercial purposes, is to apply 
heat with a torch, and apply the heat with a little gumption. 
Avoid using the torch drring the heat of the day and this for 
two reasons: First, high temperature causes tree and fruit to 
give off moisture more rapidly for the time being than the 
roots can assimilate. Apply the torch therefore in the morn- 
ing, the earlier the better, or in the evening. This work could 
be done even during the night, same as hydrocyanic acid gas 
fumigation is carried on during the night. There will be more 
or less dew upon the foliage and fruit which will prevent pra- 
ctically all injury, if the torch is kept moving. Second, the 
higher the temperature the more apt are the bugs to fly off 
when they feel the blast approach. In fact, in that case, you 
have to work going backwards, so as to come upon the bugs 
with the blast suddenly. 



14 

On the other hand, the tendency of the oonchnela to eongre- 
^-ate on certain individual peaches, and cotton and other fruit 
which habit to thus congregate seems to be common to most 
bugs of this class — makes it easier to that extent to reduce in- 
jury from the use of the torch to the minnimum, because the 
rest of the plant does not receive any treatment at all. 

The aim must be to give the bugs one or more swift lickings 
at a time ard repeat this rather than to try to kill them on the 
spot. Bes/ides, there is a whole lot more than low-do^^ru peach 
trees to'be considered. The conchuela and the grain bug are 
liable to attack and breed in anything- that is suitable. You 
might have in your yard rosebushes, or a philadelphus, or a 
syringa (lilac) or citrus fruits in bloom or fruit, or a clematis 
(paniculata or viginica) as a porchvine, or a bed of petunias 
or heliotrope, or, of trees, a paulonia, or a large blooming chest- 
nut, or an accacia, and any of them, when in bloom, and some, 
as the paulonia, also, when setting seeds, may be simply cover 
ed with the pests. You might not care to go to any great 
trouble to save the crop of blooms, but the fact remains that 
any of these plants or trees simply acts as a trap and at the 
same time as a means of multipliction and would be abandoned 
when no longer attractive in favor of other food plants, such as 
garden truck, all kinds, sizes and shapes of fruit trees (except 
nuts), grapes, cotton, corn and grain in general. Hence yoit 
want some apparatus that will make it possible to attack them 
cheaply and effectively under these multivarious conditions. 
In a general way the lOrch designed by me and above re- 
ferred to would be what you want. For treating trees you 
cannot climb this apparatus is to be used in conjunction with 
a fruitpicker's ladder, or with a stepladder, folding, or solid, 
built perferably upon sled runners- 

And, moreover, it has long been known that there are other 
sucking insects attacking cotton and other important crops in 
other parts of the world, and these may get a foothold in this 
country, and should therefore upon arrival be met by suitable 
means of control. 

How best to control these bugs and other sucking insects 
that may be also present, then or at some other time, when they 
attack commercial orchards, or eottonfields, or vineyards, or 



^5 

eitruK-gTOTes, is altogetli<?r another question. Fumigation, all 
things con^iderecV will not do. When you use a torch on fruit 
like peaches you might spoil the outside of the fruit a little by 
the repeated slight licldngs you are advised to use, but you 
spoil only a small fraction ns much as the bugs would spoil it' 
ycu used r^o tori^h and used -anything else you might think 
Avould do insteail. 

As to control of conehuelas in cottonfields : Reference has 
been made ahove to Dr. jMorrill's observation that they show 
a tendency to congregate upon certain individual cotton IjoIIs. 
Thus, a handtoreh of the knapsack type would lick them off 
•on these without touching the rest of the crop. However, I am 
>vatisfied that a very large part of the bugs that otherwise 
would go to cotton could be concentrated upon Milomaize, or 
upon corn, and especially .sweet corn, if these latter do well 
there. 

On page 3 of my Circular No. 139 you will find reference, 
made to my experience in 1897 (not 1907 as 

stated there and also on page 2 by mis- 
take) of the adult harleijuin cabbagebugs concentrating upon 
the tassels of sweetcorn, feeding upon the pollen. I published 
this observation soon after, and tried to get the Bureau of En- 
tomology and some Southern Entomologists to fully investi- 
gate this point. The Bureau did nothing, and one entomolo- 
gist did at least so much as to say, in effect, that to claim, that 
an insect that has never been ohserved (to his knowledge at 
least) to feed on anything but cruciferous plants, such as cab- 
bage, does feed upon a radically different type of plant, is an 
absurdity on its face. 

Well, they feed upon the pollen of sweet eorn just The 
same, and on the pollen only, as claimed. 

It does not follow from this that I want to maintain that 
there could be no better way of congregating the adults, this 
the more as there can be no pollen in the spring when it would 
be especially desirable to get rid of the hibernated adults. In 
the South where many cruciferous plants of commercial value 
stand outsid\e all winter I would suggest to so time a batch of 
mustard or other highly attractive plant to act as a trap that it 
will bloom at the time of emergence and then secure the adults 



i6 

by hand or by th^ ase of the torch. In the North I have found 
riita bagas highly attractive. Some roots kept over winter and 
set out in the spring would throw up flower shoots and thus 
provide a means of close concentration. Or cabbage stumps 
from last fall's ','rop might be planted among the spring crop. 
All these would r-.end up shoots on which the adults would be 
exposed. Similaril\ stumps from the early crop might be plant- 
ed among the late crop. This would cause seed stalks to shoot 
up, attracting and (ixposing the adults to ready view. 

On page 5 Dr- Morril makes reference to the occurrence of 
conchuela upon IMilo maize, his observations beginning on Au- 
gust 11. The crop was then nearing maturity and nothing 
was thus observed as to what attraction the blooms exerted 
upon the bugs. As it was, the owner stated that by about Au- 
gust 4, they "had been very abundant, as many as 25 of the 
insects frequently being noted on a single seedhead." It Avould 
seem therefore that by planting rows of ]\Iilo maize through 
the cotton, the ougs could be conveniently concentrated, and 
then destroyed by the use of the torch. The rows might be 
planted at varying dates. The torch works much quicker and 
cheaper than handpicking, if it be used during the cooler part 
of the day, and with maize in ample supply to work on, this 
will offset any Jittly injury to bloom and seed b}^ the blast. 

For control of conchuelas on grapes grown low a knapsack 
torch would be the thing, as it is for many other grape 
troubles, as described on pp. 20 and 21 of my Circular No. 139. 

Keference has already been made on page 81 of my Circular 
No. 139, that to apply heat to medium and large trees, or to 
hop vines, special outfits would have to be designed to apply 
the heat economically and effectively. The Bureau thus far 
had nothing to say about this, or anything else. 

Although the knapsack torch will, with a good pressure, 
work with the burner swayed three feet or more above the gas- 
oline supply in the tank, the aim will always have to be to get 
into use, as far as possible, an apparatus that will carry the 
gasoline ;supply at an elevation higher than the object to be 
treated- This is the more easily carried out because a little 
gasoline runs a long time and the outfit to carry the supply 
could be constructed correspondingly light. 



17 

We will assume a large number of tall trees, say 40 feet, of 
sufficient value to warrant some expense for treatment is ser- 
iously affected with some louse, scale insect or caterpillar. The 
use of arsenicals is very often neither practicable nor effective 
against caterpillars, the several reasons for which you find on 
pp. 17 and 18 of my Circular No. 139. 

To carry a tower elevated! to that height from the ground 
and allow of a wide range of work by enabling it to go over 
rough ground, it would not be too much to space the wheels 
16 feet apart. 

Assuming the whole outfit to be constructed of iron, it 
could be built up with the end in view of making it possible 
to use as much as possible of the several parts in putting up 
some smaller apparatus that will be necessary where the high 
outfit is not needed and cannot be used because of its width. 

Thus, for axles, pipes could be used, and the wheels could 
be held in place by the use of set screws. The wagongear pro- 
per, clamped to the axles, and the tower, could be used only 
for this outfit, but the gasoline tank, pipes, hose and burners 
could be detached and with some slight alterations, together 
with the wheels, be used to get up a smaller, lower outfit hav- 
ing the wheels 12 or 8 feet apart. Again, this would furnish 
most of the parts needed to get up a two wheel multiple bur- 
ner of any desired width for treating insects on lowgrowing 
crops such as alfalfa, wheat or oats. As the wheels can be 
clamped where wanted, cultivated crops like potatoes could 
be easily treated by constructing a two-wheel apparatus drawn 
by one horse with the wheels running in the rows on either 
side, and, say, 4 burners stationary or manipulated by hand 
as may be required. The potatobug is easily poisoned, but a 
blast blowing over a row of potatoes would lick off most of the 
fungus spores. ' 

i^armers' Bulletin INo. 557 treats on the potato tubermoth- 
The means by which the Bureau intends to control this in- 
sect is what I wish to call attention to. The insect feeds upon 
solanaceous plants and tobacco. Tq ''insure success" in con- 
trol ''the first measure consists in the maintenance of clean 
methods of cultivation. This implies that all infested potato- 
plants and solanaceous weeds such as the groundcherry, 



'i8 

bull nettles, horsenettles and volunteer potato plants, growing 
in the same vicinity as the potatoes must be destroyed. This 
can be done by prompt burning as soon as insect infestation 
is manifest " (p. 13.) 

Now, the .ad'.jjlt, a moth, seems to be a good flier, able to 
:*eadily cover miles to find foodplants. As tobacco grows wil-.^ 
in many places, this makes it still more impracticable to keep 
down the breeding material. The other proposed step of con- 
trol, croprotation, is of no value, if the adailt can fly for miles. 

Of course, when affecting stored potatoes, control by fumiga- 
tion can, as is claimed, take place- 

"Care dn digging is advisable in order not to cut into the 
tuber or leave the dug potato in the field over night where re- 
infestation could occurr" (p. 4.) From this it would seem, 
that the moth is nightflying and possibly could be trapped 
in quantity wdth the torch. Also, since, "the eggs are laid upon 
the leaves or on other parts of the plants and the minute cater- 
pillars or worms quickly bore between the surfaces of the 
leaves or into the potatoskin, which they mine in every direc- 
tion, finally devouring the exterior" (p. 1) it would seem that 
keeping the plants well dusted with a mixture of parisgreen 
and flour, or airslacked lime, especially near the base of the 
plant, would destroy many of the worms. 

The greatest value of the several types of torch apparatus 
referred to will probably be found to consist in their ability of 
licking off the spores of any kind of vegetation at a cost of only 
a small part of any other treatment known, and thus make it 
possible to largely prevent the enorn;ous losses in the sections 
of the country where the rainfall is ample and even abundant, 
and to that extent makes possible the production of heavy 
crops. 

The Bureau of Plant Industry never made any definite state- 
ment in regard to the use of the torch as a fungicide. 

On page 32 of my Circular No. 139 you find reference made 
to a statement by the State Entomologist of Illinois in a report 
having not at all any aim at boosting the use of heat, either as an 
insecticide or fungicide, and which is to the effect that the 
flame in a test in the fall of 1902 licked the spores off of a lilac 
plant and that in a few days new ones had cropped out. This.. 



19 

if the leaf was not injiired, was only natural, ancl this in itself 
])roves that the heat necessary to destroy spores need not in- 
jure the leaf, at least not materially. 

Thus far the Department of Agriculture has deliberately de- 
€4ined ,'to define its position in regard to the use of the torch 
as either an insecticide or fungicide, at least they have taken 
no action at all in regard to my Circulars since the issuance of 
my Circular No. 134, of December 21, 1912, and they have 
carefully avoided to touch the essential features of my Cir- 
<3ulars from No. 117 on, dating back to December 3, 1910. 

On page 5 of his report for 1913 the Entomologist states 
that experiments in the handpicking of the early appearing 
bollweevils and of the first infested squares gave in the Miss- 
issippi Delta an average increase in yield of $3.22 per acre. 

As far as this plan is to be followed, it will be up to the far- 
mers to see whether they can hire the abnormal help required to 
do this work on the plantations at large, without having to 
pay higher wages than was necessary to secure the needed help 
for experimental work. 

The whole thing is antedeluvian, and the Bureau knows it. 

As to the possibility of some simpler means of accomplishing 
the destruction of hibernated weevils, the bollweevil oracle 
FPeaks thus on page 43 of Farmers' Bulletin No. 344: "The 
idea of attracting weevils to a few early plants or traprows 
seemed hopeful at one time. Practical work in the field ,how- 
ever, has shown that nothing whatever can be expected from 
this means. The difficulty is that the early plants exert very 
little attraction " 

I had shown as far back as my Circular No. 43, September 
26, 1905, from investigations recorded on page 110 of Entom- 
ology Bulletin No. 51 relative to gradual attraction of hibern- 
ated weevils to souares, that weevils, emerging as they did in 
that case from within the field (at Victoria, South Texas) move 
so little about that one-fourth had failed to gather upon trap- 
plants close by (cotton growing from last year's stumps) hav- 
ing squares, many fully four weeks old*. This is merely the best 
possible proof of the Bureau's claim that they are perfectly 
satisfied to feed upon one or more less advanced plants if they 
happen to find these first. 



20 

I had all aloni^ contended that the first step in weevil con- 
trol is a field clear of weevils, and that this can be accomplish- 
ed by plowing that field, whether it was in cotton or other 
crop, so that any weevils present are safely buried during the 
hibernating period. Being then numbed none could crawl out 
even if only slightly buried by accident, and any weevil that 
might not have been buried at all and that might become act- 
ive because of warm weather setting in would go outside of 
the field in search of food, and finding none would secrete it- 
self outside of the field. Hence infestation, under my plan, 
starts from without. 

Although there are additional proofs, the claim that the wee- 
vils settle originally at the edge was proven as long ago as 
February 18, 1905, in my Circular No. 32 from a table on pro- 
gress of iinfestation given in Entomology Bulletin No. 51, p. 
115. The infestation, as subsequently learned through Dr- 
Hunter, had started from a cottonseed house near the corner 
where infestation first was noticed on August 6. Infestation, 
therefore, did not start "some time in July" as claimed on 
page 115, and the inference I had originally drawn from that 
claim that infestation was due to influx from other fields, be- 
coming heavily infested, was not correct, but infestation had 
been going on since spring, yet even then was by Augnst 6 con- 
fined to a small area. The field, apparently, was late in setting 
squares. 

Previous to the issuance of my Circular No. 117 I had held 
that because of this evident original settling at the edge of the 
field it would be possible to let the weevils breed in the row or 
rows at the edge, and secure their- by the picking off of the 
most advanced squares. The Bureau, without giving any 
specific reasons, on the other hand claimed that this plan does 
not work. 

I concluded, then, that there was somewhere a rub, and in 
my Circular No. 117 I was able to show for the first time where 
the rub comes in. I showed there that with the setting of 
(Squares, and incident commencing of oviposition, the female 
would require 2 to 6 clean squares per day, and that this 
Avould mean that the bulk of the weevils would have to start 
almost immediately in search of uninfested plants all over the 



21 

Held, and that to prevent this the only way consisted in picking 
the weevils off daily at the edge of the field after squares have 
begun to form. Before this time, dusting the outer rows with 
arsenate of lead would be helpful. 

This feature was gone over much more in detail in my Cir- 
cular No. 127. ISlj Circular No- 137 treats on the weevil prob- 
lem as a Avhole and specifically points out on page 7 that letting 
newly emerged weevils feed upon squares at will means let- 
ting them get beyond control. This point you find pretty ful- 
ly discussed on pp. 4 and 5 of my Circular No. 139. The es- 
sential feature for success in control is that under this plan 
there are no adult weevils and weevilinfeisted squares scatter- 
ed all over the field to pick up, the latter mlixed with normally 
shed uninfested squares, but the work is confined to the outer- 
roAvs for the rest of the emergence period — ^about three 
weeks — and this securing of the adult weevils could probably 
be greatly facilitated by the ulse of a knapsacktorch. On pp. 
29 and 30 and 33 to 35 you find the reasons why fall destruc- 
tion of the stalks, as recommended by the Bureau, is necessari- 
ly ineffective. 

And during all this time I was working to the end of hav- 
ing Congress in general and the Chairman of the House Com- 
mittee on Agriculture- in particular, insrijst on a full ventilation 
of this matter. The closest I came to it thus far was in a letter 
from the present chairman, Hon. Asbury F. Lever, written 
December 17, and received by me December 29, in which he 
said that "my information is that the officials of Depart- 
ment of Agriculture have never received any eirtculars from 
you in reference to the bollweevil." 

I thereupon sent him three letters from Chief Howard in 
Avhich he acknowledged the receipt of a number of circulars- 
As a matter of fact, there were 12 sets of my Circulars No. 137, 
138and 139 sent through him to entomologists working under 
him, and he was told that the object of this was to make it as 
handy as possible for him to get his forces ready to hammer 
me down — if he wanted to undertake the job, as otherwise I 
would hammer him doAvn. Mr. Lever was told this, and was 
asked to return the letters sent him,, but they did not come 
back, nor was anything heard from him otherwise. 



22 



Of course copies of this Circular No. 140 will go to various 
members of the Department of Agriculture, and, for my part^ 
they are, as always in the past, expected' to make a statement 
up to the minute. 





THE REINLEIN KNAPSACK 
GASOLINE TORCH 

Patent No. 7^9,221;: September 15, igo^ 

Distinct in having the pump located in center of tank, witfr 
the handle operating the puinp formed like a hook, and cap- 
able of being locked against movement by means of a pin, thus, 
by removing the straps, making it possible to hang it about in- 
trees or on a ladder. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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